A few years ago, my wife, Pat, and I moved back into Greenfield after an absence of almost 50 years. It seems the town has changed a bit.
I’ve chatted with older Greenfielders who say they’d never walk down Main Street now, and I think it makes them sad. These days, mostly, I walk, and frequently on Main Street, and generally, I’ve seen a dearth of other pedestrians compared to a half-century ago. Yes, I’ve encountered what one previous correspondent here, somewhat uncharitably, called the “zombie parade.” In my opinion, the homeless and panhandlers seem mostly harmless. Greenfield hardly has a monopoly on homelessness. Are they the “problem”?
Looking into the past – ever since the state’s patient “dumping” from the Northampton mental hospital, this town’s had its share of what used to be called “unfortunates” downstreet (as we used to say). And there have always been sketchier aspects to some of downtown: back in the day, when I worked as a projectionist, I’d leave the late show and the girls leaning out the window across the street would call out for me to come up. I had to tell them I couldn’t afford to, so they should ask my manager for a raise. I don’t stay up that late anymore, so I can’t say if this still happens.
One thing that really has changed in Greenfield, by the way, is how LOW the real estate tax rate is now. When Pat had her house here in ‘71 (when Carly Simon sang “These are the Good Old Days”), the effective tax rate was $67 per $1,000 of value (almost $1,000 on a $19,000 house!). And that was in the halcyon days of GTD and Millers Falls Tools employing thousands here.
Generally, Greenfield’s population has dropped slightly (as has the commonwealth’s – we lost a congressional seat last census), but employment has been fairly stable: more employers (smaller businesses) employing about the same number of workers overall. The housing stock is deteriorating, but as prices rise south of here, it seems to have become more attractive to young professionals. I see more stylish beards and knit caps, anyway.
But what about Main Street? If the main boulevard of a town is its face, seems we’ve lost a few teeth. A visiting Martian might think this is “Cohn & Co-ville” for all the “for lease” signs in windows.
A few years back, I found a copy of the 1964 Master Plan for the town while browsing in the library (it’s up in their attic now – they don’t have room for it, since there’s no Greenfield Room anymore). It predicted many changes after the completion of I-91 with spooky accuracy: there’d be a major mall in Holyoke, the west side of the 91 rotary here would be a successful commercial area, while the Cherry Rum plaza would not. Perhaps most importantly, for this discussion, it foretold that businesses on Main Street would disperse (up Federal Street and out Main Street) because customers would want more convenient on-premise parking. This seems exactly to be the case.
With a few exceptions, most of the businesses from that era have gone from Main Street. But, frankly, I can’t get too sentimental about that as the stores here then were just part of an earlier process of retail evolution: the national A&P chain displaced neighborhood markets, Sears hurt local hardware and appliance stores, Woolworth’s killed notion and toy shops. Now, like all over the U.S., we’ve gained the mega-chains like Home Depot, BJ’s and the pharmacies in town.
On the other hand, moving back here, I’ve found it real easy to spend money in Greenfield. The point is that you can pretty much buy most anything now in town that you could have bought (mostly on Main Street) in the 70s. So as Main Street has changed, is it the homeless? Is it the malls? The chains? Is it Amazon (that “giant sucking sound” of retail)?
But is it all that bleak? I was talking to a younger (that’s 40-ish to me) professional who grew up in town and recently returned. He was very optimistic and said that, compared to the 90s, there are some great businesses here: much better taverns and restaurants (better than Carl’s Tea Room?) and there is a nascent arts and music scene. I’d never have expected to find great Thai, Mexican, Indian or even Chinese food here 50 years ago. And there are other oases in this desert – the classics: Green Fields, the Outlet, the library, the YMCA, the Garden, not to mention dear Wilson’s (check out the sales); and the smaller shops and eateries.
So, what will happen? Is there some new way of getting commerce to return to Main Street storefronts here? Have you driven through Orange or Athol recently? Check out the main drag (Route 2A) – I did recently, and it was surprisingly encouraging. Can it happen here? Positively, we just need to listen to ourselves and be creative. And the young folks in town need to be involved – as I’m sure they will.
Take heart – things can change for the better. I don’t know, these just might be the good old days.
Henry Leuchtman has been away from Greenfield, having spent the interceding years mostly in Heath.